


Promises

by Otonymous



Category: SLBP - Fandom, Samurai Love Ballad Party - Fandom, Samurai Love Ballad: PARTY, 天下統一恋の乱 | Sakura Amidst Chaos | Samurai Love Ballad (Visual Novel)
Genre: Angst, Death, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-04
Updated: 2019-03-04
Packaged: 2019-11-09 03:45:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17994248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Otonymous/pseuds/Otonymous
Summary: Kansuke finally makes good on his promise to you...in unexpected ways.





	Promises

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: ***Spoilers for SLBP Shingen's MS!!! Please don't read if you haven't played his Act 1 yet (unless you don't care to :D )***  
> This is my first fanfic ever written! Hope you all enjoy it.

The lantern in your bedchamber suddenly extinguishes, eliciting a surprised gasp from your lips as you are plunged into a gentle darkness, lit only by the soft glow of the moon peeking out occasionally from behind the clouds. Had you not been so preoccupied with grinding the herbs in your mortar to the right consistency, it would’ve occurred to you that the air in the room had been particularly still that night, the shoji doors having been drawn tightly shut to keep out the chill in the fall air.

You heave a defeated sigh, taking it as a sign to crawl into the inviting embrace of your futon and cease working on Lord Shingen’s medicine. Rubbing the strain from your weary eyes, you start returning ingredients to the physiker’s chest _he_ entrusted you with before he left for battle.

_Kansuke._

Lately, the days have melded together into an interminable cycle of busy work: cooking in the kitchens during the day and preparing Shingen’s pills by night, your hands flying in a desperate bid to keep themselves occupied lest your mind wander to the darker corners of your heart. Despite your tireless efforts, the medicine you make just barely meets his needs, your Lord having returned from the battlefield much worse for wear. Of course, this wouldn’t even be an issue if Kansuke were here, as skilled at compounding remedies as he was.

_If only he were here._

After the last bottle has been returned to its rightful place within the lacquered chest, you delicately lower the lid to hear it shut with a soft thud. That sound, whilst practically imperceptible, seems to carry with it the raw emotions of a howling wind, stirring up the beginnings of a dreadful panic within your chest like the funnelling of dead leaves towards the eye of a storm. It sounds like…

_The sealing of a lid on a wooden coffin._

The soldiers of the Takeda clan who survived the battle to fight another day had long since returned to Tsutsujigasaki. Lord Kansuke was not among them. He hadn’t ridden up to the castle gates alongside Shingen, ebony hair disheveled and olive skin flushed with exertion and fatigue. Hadn’t silently glared at his Lord when he tried to brush off the severity of his worsened health. Hadn’t returned to give you the chance to tell him that the man you love has always been him.

Yes, unbeknownst to even yourself, Kansuke’s gentle yet steadfast demeanour had planted a seed deep within your heart, silently growing with every subdued display of his kindness and consideration. By the time you realized the truth and extent of your feelings for him, it was already too late. Shingen was a jealous man after all, and Kansuke much too loyal to even think about touching his Lord’s woman. Besides, you were never really sure he felt the same towards you, his stoic face refusing to give anything away. And so, you resigned yourself to wholehearted devotion to the Tiger of Kai, willing your feelings for his omnipresent shadow to wither and die.

You glance at your reflection in the extravagant dressing mirror standing in the corner, one of Lord Shingen’s many beautiful gifts. The eyes of the woman in sleeping robes staring back at you are coldly accusatory in the moonlight, recounting your crimes. You couldn’t ignore the fact that you could still feel the searing heat of Kansuke’s pinky finger wrapped around your own, his amethyst eyes intense as he intoned with utmost solemnity “a thousand needles if you lie, drink them well and you shall die.” Couldn’t deny that even with Shingen by your side, your gaze still lingered on Kansuke’s face during meals when you thought no one else was looking. But perhaps worst of all, you couldn’t forget that your wanton heart had sought out Kansuke before your Lord when the men returned home from war so many weeks ago.

“I doubt he’ll be coming home anytime soon, little lady,” Saizo had murmured then in response to your frazzled question regarding Kansuke’s whereabouts. And yet, you let yourself cling to whatever small shred of blind hope was present in his words: anytime soon doesn’t mean never. So, with that tiny ember in your heart to keep the frost at bay, you refocused all your attention on caring for Shingen, as you had promised Kansuke to do. After all, he too had made a promise to return home to you. And promises made with the pinky are absolute.

“Kansuke!”

Suddenly unable to bear the silence, his name leaves your lips as surely as the tears from your eyes, your desperate whisper reverberating about the room in a chorus clamouring for total honesty. There, spurred on by the coaxing sincerity that darkness brings, you finally come to terms with the deadly beast threatening to devour your heart:

_He’s not coming back._

All of a sudden, you feel it: another presence in the room. Someone is watching you intently from the shadows, their gaze infinitely tender in its affection. You smell him before you see him: bitter herbs and wind-blown hair. The coppery tang of spilt blood. Making to rise, your eyes widen as if searching for some clue that would tell you if the vision before you is a dream or reality.

“Lord Kansuke, is…is that really you?” You venture timidly as the shadow glides closer and closer. Outside, the clouds part to allow moonlight to stream in at the exact moment he stills, quiet as a ghost and close enough to kiss: raven wisps of hair falling over beautiful amaranthine eyes, turbulently searching your own in a rare show of unveiled emotion. Taking a deep breath to steel yourself, you grasp your courage by the reins and will your deepest, darkest secret to unravel in your eyes: that your heart has only ever had room for him.

Unspoken understanding plays across his face. Kansuke has found you out and finally, the ever hopeful bud in your heart is allowed to bloom. His hands slowly come up to cup your cheeks, calloused thumbs delicately wiping away tears you forgot had fallen. Your heart has never felt so full as when you feel the gentle press of his forehead to your own, his nose nuzzling yours as he whispers before taking your lips in a kiss that steals your breath away:  
  
“I’m home, as promised. And we’ll never be apart again.”

At this moment, you are so happy you could die.

* * *

It is almost sunset the next day by the time Shingen finally finds her, body rigid and dressed only in sleeping robes, lying next to Kansuke’s armour-clad corpse beneath a bare cherry tree high up on the mountains bordering Kai. Even in death, the smile on her face takes his breath away. And somewhere in the back of his mind, Shingen recognizes that he was madly in love with a woman whose heart never fully belonged to him. With her delicate, pale hand entwined so tightly with Kansuke’s that you can barely tell he’s lost a finger, she looks peaceful, content…found. For the life of him, however, Shingen cannot figure out how she managed to find Kansuke’s body — now in the advanced stages of decay after being exposed to the elements for so many weeks — so far from the castle. Nor can he fathom the reasons why she would be dressed only in her sleeping robes.

Despite his near crushing sense of loss, Shingen still finds the strength to gently smile through his tears at the tragic sight of the two most important people in his life. He recites a short prayer, deciding to allow the pair another night together before sending his retainers to retrieve and bury the bodies. He turns his magnificent black steed back towards the castle at a gallop in a bid to outrun the pain seizing the very core of his being. Behind him, the sun slowly sets on the lovers, their marital bed a blazing pyre of orange and red light.


End file.
